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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
This was such a great read. The writing style is very different in a good way. But I'm not sure I'm content with the ending
The book about a girl who fell in love with her captor, who would've thought?
A beautiful heartbreaking story. Gem and Ty despite their pasts and their common link were torn away. I would like to see a sequel maybe, something about Ty. It hurted me, ending the story like that.
But the love for nature, sand, stars and paint was amazing. :)
But the love for nature, sand, stars and paint was amazing. :)
I had such high expectations for this book when I started reading it, Stolen is a novel everyone was talking about a few years back and as always I am late to the party. After reading this book I can see why people 6 years ago where obsessed with this story and maybe teenage me would have loved it, but unfortunately for me this book was just okay.
In Stolen, sixteen-year-old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to her captor, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don't exist—almost.
My favorite part about the book was the writing, I find it so eerie that it is written in second person it just gives it a suspenseful tone. I love the descriptions of the Australian setting, the author really turned the Australian dessert into a character of its own. Overall, the writing style was fantastic and I will for sure read other works by this author because honestly the prose was outstanding.
Even though I loved the prose, the story in general was hard for me to get through. First of all, I could not for the life of me get over the fact that the kidnapping scene is almost impossible, there is no way you can get away with taking someone from an airport, I’m sorry but no. Then we have the problem of pacing, the story starts very fast and because it is such a short book before you even realize, the story is coming to an end. I had such a hard time believing that the character where able to change so much in such a short period of time.
Then, talking about the characters, we first have Gemma, she was a pretty okay character for me. Honestly she was nothing special, I kept trying to figure out what made her so special that Ty would go through all that trouble just to have her. We then have Ty, who honestly felt very real to me, as a Criminal Minds fan I could understand why Ty did the things he did, the author did a great job in describing a textbook psychopath. The secondary characters are dull and don’t add much to the story, I couldn’t tell you the name of a secondary character to save my life.
Overall, I am sad I wasn’t able to enjoy this book as much as the majority of people seem to have. I understand where the hype comes from, like I said the writing style and the characters are great, but it simply wasn’t for me. I liked the concept, I liked the characters but I just could suspend my disbelief that much in order for this to make sense to me.
In Stolen, sixteen-year-old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to her captor, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don't exist—almost.
My favorite part about the book was the writing, I find it so eerie that it is written in second person it just gives it a suspenseful tone. I love the descriptions of the Australian setting, the author really turned the Australian dessert into a character of its own. Overall, the writing style was fantastic and I will for sure read other works by this author because honestly the prose was outstanding.
Even though I loved the prose, the story in general was hard for me to get through. First of all, I could not for the life of me get over the fact that the kidnapping scene is almost impossible, there is no way you can get away with taking someone from an airport, I’m sorry but no. Then we have the problem of pacing, the story starts very fast and because it is such a short book before you even realize, the story is coming to an end. I had such a hard time believing that the character where able to change so much in such a short period of time.
Then, talking about the characters, we first have Gemma, she was a pretty okay character for me. Honestly she was nothing special, I kept trying to figure out what made her so special that Ty would go through all that trouble just to have her. We then have Ty, who honestly felt very real to me, as a Criminal Minds fan I could understand why Ty did the things he did, the author did a great job in describing a textbook psychopath. The secondary characters are dull and don’t add much to the story, I couldn’t tell you the name of a secondary character to save my life.
Overall, I am sad I wasn’t able to enjoy this book as much as the majority of people seem to have. I understand where the hype comes from, like I said the writing style and the characters are great, but it simply wasn’t for me. I liked the concept, I liked the characters but I just could suspend my disbelief that much in order for this to make sense to me.
I balked at first when this book was recommended due to the fact it was about an abduction. But, I felt myself get sucked in and really feel what Gemma was going through. I wasn't sure how I wanted the story to end. I thought as Gemma that there was only two ways for it to go. I didn't expect the third! Lucy Christopher creates an amazing journey of both the abducted and the abductor. Excellent book.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow! I devoured this book. Finished in less than 24 hours. I can't begin to tell you how beautiful the descriptions are in this and I was really taken along on the journey with Gemma. Definitely recommend this one!
This is a short novel that packs a huge whallop of a story! When 16-year old Gemma Toombs is abducted by a seemingly innocent young man, her life is understandably turned upsidedown. Creatively written in the form of a letter to her captor, the reader is exposed to Gemma's observations and emotions as she realizes that she is expected to live her life in the middle of the Australian outback, away from all civilization. We learn that Ty's obsession with Gemma begins when she is very young and that he has convinced himself that he has to save her from her existence in London. Therefore, when Gemma is kidnapped in an airport and taken into the middle of the desert, the desolation, isolation and complete lack of hope is very apparent. I believe that this would make a great book for a group discussion; I'd love to learn of a teen's reaction to this novel.
i really liked this book. i liked how the readers were able to see a big summary of what she’s been through and turned it into a book. it was really interesting and had me very invested from start to finish.
the story was a little off putting to read once she started talking about possibly loving him, when all i could think about was the fact that he’s way older than her, he stalked her since she was young and kidnapped her.
the story was a little off putting to read once she started talking about possibly loving him, when all i could think about was the fact that he’s way older than her, he stalked her since she was young and kidnapped her.
Interesting read. Kind of blew my mind that Ty just took Gemma in the middle of a busy airport. I'll probably be just a little freaked out if I ever get coffee in the airport now... It surprised me that by the end I had fallen in love, just like Gemma, with Ty. I was cheering for them all along completely forgetting that he kidnapped her. So weird, I probably have a case of Stockholm syndrome too.